Bodyguard trainer says the reason reports of bullying on the rise is because adults are encouraging victim culture and creating soft target kids.

Following the flood of media reports on bullying, cyber bullying related teen suicide, some parents and teachers are taking steps to prepare children for the hazards they face in school, camp and life.

They are doing this with a unique program developed by safety specialist and bodyguard trainer John Nottingham.

John Nottingham has been on the front lines of bullying prevention for nearly thirty years teaching children, men and women how to handle bullying effectively. He uses a method developed from strategies he teaches to bodyguards to spot potential problems in advance, redirect behavior with words, and change the context of a would be bullying situation.

Listen to Our Chief Instructor

John Nottingham Discuss the USA Martial Arts Anti-Bully Program on the Outreach Today Radio Show

Bullying is the most common form of violence in American society according to the National Association of School Psychologists.

Bullying affects 15 to 30 percent of students as either bullying child or the targets of bullying

Studies have shown that adults who were bullied as children have a much higher level of depression and lower self-esteem than those who were not.

The facts show that over 85% of bullying goes unreported.

Nottingham’s BullyProof Vest strives to offer the most practical and effective bullying prevention program available.

Learn more about bullying, how to prevent or resolve it, and more about the Bullying Prevention Initiative International organization or the Arizona chapter Arizona Bullying Prevention Initiative.

Protect your children with bullying prevention skills and strategies by contacting USA Martial Arts Phoenix and a certified bully prevention specialist to inquire about upcoming seminars based on the Bullying Prevention Initiative International programs.

info@usa-martialarts.com602-896-8721

]]>https://bullyingpreventionworld.wordpress.com/2014/02/27/469/feed/0usamartialartsBully-Wise Program Teaches Children How To Deter Bullies, Bullying and Being Bulliedhttps://bullyingpreventionworld.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/bully-wise-program-teaches-children-how-to-deter-bullies-bullying-and-being-bullied/
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Does Your Child Know What to Do When Faced With Bullying? Do You?

Will your child over-react and make bullying worse?

Will your child under-respond and become a victim?

Will your child know how to get help?

Will your child know how to defend himself if necessary?

It’s pretty much a given that at some point in each individual’s life they will have to face a bullying situation. For many of us, we already have experienced the problems of bullying repeatedly. Rather than wait to be rescued, a new approach to how to deal with bullying is shaking up the anti-bully movement by offering an alternative that empowers people – especially children.

BullyWise – The Street Smart BullyProof Program is a novel approach to bullying prevention. Rather than the anti-bullying movements effort to seek out bullies and punish them, John Nottingham’s BullyWise BullyProof Vest seeks to equip children with the practical skills to deal with bullying the smart way.

Deter bullying from ever taking place by not being selected as a target

Detect bullying behavior early and change the course of action toward peace

Defuse bullying once it has begun by creating options, alternatives and redirecting behavior

Defend bullying as a last resort by knowing how to get help or escape to safety without fighting

John Nottingham has been training men, women and children to effectively defend themselves from bullying, aggressive behavior and various attacks for over 27 years. His proven methods have been shared all over the world with military, law enforcement and various agencies.

He created the Bullying Prevention Initiative International and the Phoenix BullyProof Project to teach BullyWise techniques to children, parents and teachers from a professional protectors perspective.

He offers ongoing free seminars to the community to share these important tools and techniques. He and his team can be reached at:

The secret to our bullying prevention and self defense system is that I teach my clients to do the unexpected. They fight fire with water and change the course of events. It works time and time again because it is based on proven principles, strategies and philosophies. -John Nottingham, Bullying Prevention Initiative International, founder BullyWise BullyProof Vest – How To Handle a Bully Like a Bodyguard

Wouldn’t you love to get inside a bully’s head and see what makes him tick? What is he thinking when he picks on your child? Where does his anger come from? If you met Troy today, you might not suspect that he was once a bully, but he’ll tell you here how bullying changed his life.

Q. What kind of kids did you single out to bully?
Troy: I guess I bullied the usual people. I bullied the smelly people, the “weird” people, and the people who were different.

Q. Why these particular people?
Troy: Looking back, I think I bullied the people who let themselves be bullied. People without self–respect or people whom I didn’t respect for whatever reasons. For this reason (more likely because I was one of them), I never bullied the “nerds” or the “geeks.”

Q. Why do you think you were a bully?
Troy: I was a bully because it was the cool thing to do. A good portion of it wasn’t physical bullying — though much of that did occur. More often than not, I bullied people psychologically and emotionally. When it became more than they could handle, I ended up being the physical bully as well. I started out as what was probably the jester, or class clown.

Q. When did it evolve into physical bullying?
Troy: I think it evolved into physical bullying when people would have just about enough of me and want to fight. It was only then would I realize I could be, and eventually became, a physical bully. It was unfortunate, though, because peers as well as faculty associated me with pseudo&ndsah;leadership, physical violence and such. It became a burden with people wanting to “school yard” brawl to take me from my “throne.”

Q. Did you end up fighting?
Troy: I had to fight when I didn’t want to and when you’re a young adult you don’t understand the whole “it takes a real man to walk away from a fight” bit. The girls liked me because of this control. Unfortunately, it got to the point where I was set up for fights by friends or girls — as if I was some prize fighter — but everyone was either afraid of me and didn’t stand up for themselves or hated me thinking I was the coolest guy in the world.

Q. Did any of these kids ever stand up to you?
Troy: I had many people stand up to me. Eventually, I ended up beating them down. Then something changed. When someone stood up as I got older, I respected that. And some of these people became my closest friends. I wasn’t afraid they would beat me up. I was happy that for the first time someone didn’t just let me run amuck and let me step all over them.

Q. This made you happy?
Troy: Bullying is a lonely business, and I was happy the day I swallowed pride and stepped back from a fight. Again, it was because I had finally come around people I could respect. To this day we have conversations about “the old days.” They tell me that they knew full well that I was gonna’ kill them, but they had just about enough and would die shutting me up.

Q. What consequences did you suffer from being a bully?
Troy: This question brings tears to my eyes to this day. In fact, I just spent the holidays in my hometown and discussed this very thing with my old friends. My biggest regret is the way lives have been changed because of my actions. I created complexes in people who carry them around to this day. I once got into a fight with a kid I grew up with. He was the smartest kid in school, just as big, and well taught in martial arts, but I beat him to a bloody pulp. He never recovered emotionally and dropped out of school because of the shame. We have friends in common and he still talks about it. It’s hard to deal with the fact that things you did as a stupid kid will have and have had long lasting effects on people.

Q. I’m sure you’re a great guy now!
Troy: I don’t know. I’d like to think I am, but I am still a martial artist. I never fight now, and walk away from fights. I am a college graduate and a scientist working at a prominent biotechnology firm, but it seems I have this “look” that says, “bring it on!”

Q. What makes you walk away from fights now?
Troy: Fortunately, my mind and my respect for peace and “good vibes” have grown as well. I am told more often than not that I am a great guy, but I always say that it’s because there was a time not so long ago that I really, really wasn’t.

Q. How was you home life growing up?
Troy: I had a very tough dad. Not necessarily the most abusive, but very masculine — or what I learned later was a facade of masculinity. I was the youngest in my family and had two older brothers who terrorized me. Sound familiar? I lacked respect in myself and projected this onto people I felt were like me.

Q. Anything you would like to add?
Troy: You know what? Part of the reason I’m not a bully any more and am more spiritual is the fact that I did realize eventually that my father and brothers really weren’t the manly men I thought they were. I realized upon leaving home that the way they treated their woman and themselves was very disrespectful and not manly at all. Things such as honor and integrity is what makes a man a man. I believed I changed when I realized that. Also, I realized that people started liking me more and I liked myself more when I use my mind and not my fists.

How ChildrenCan Discourage Bullying

Children can take steps to discourage bullying. A basic strategy is to hang out with friendly kids at school and to stay away from those who seem not to like them.

Bullying is also less likely to occur when children are in groups and are in areas supervised by adults. For example, children who wish to avoid being bullied can:

Play or take breaks near adults while at school.

Walk to school with older brothers and sisters or friends.

Sit near the bus driver.

These strategies are only effective when schools have firm policies in place against bullying. Staff must be trained and supported in consistently enforcing these policies.

Children who bully look for an easy target. Bullies are less likely to pick on those who:

Can quickly respond to threats in a self–assured way. Help your child practice what to say if he or she is bullied.

Act confident and do not seem easily scared. Help your child learn to use strong body language, such as standing up straight, looking other children in the eye, and speaking firmly.

Bullying is reinforced when it is ignored or quietly accepted. Encourage children to stand up for each other. Help your children think of ways to help someone who is being bullied. For example, you might suggest that a child say, “Why are you picking on him? If you think it makes you look good, you’re wrong.” Other simple measures include refusing to watch or participate in bullying. Sometimes distracting a bully, such as by starting a conversation, can prevent a confrontation.

Defending another person may sometimes be too much to ask. Help your child understand that, at the very least, he or she should tell an adult. One of the best choices for building a child’s confidence and self–esteem is professional martial arts training. These programs are designed to help a child learn and develop special important, life saving self–defense skills while at the same time building their confidence and self–esteem.

Put an End to School Yard Bullies –Part TWO

Making It Stop

The big question is how to handle bullies. Parents worry that stepping in may deprive their children of opportunities to work things out on their own, but staying out may cause their child more pain.

“There are many solutions to this problem which can actually strengthen and empower children without contributing to further abuse,” says Kate Cohen-Posey, author of How to Handle Bullies, Teasers, and Other Meanies (Rainbow Books, 1995). “It is an opportunity for parents to help children think out the many choices they have.”

For many parents, the first response is to reprimand the bully. Others confront the offender’s parents. Still others head straight for the principal’s office. All of these are correct approaches, just not necessarily in that order.

The First Step Seems Obvious

“You talk to your child to see what he or she wants to do about the bullying situation,” says Brien O’Callaghan, a clinical psychologist and marriage and family counselor, in Bethel, Conn. “Your child may have already handled it or, in response to what I call ‘parenting by questions,’ he or she may come up with his [or her] own ideas.”

When a child does ask to handle the situation on his or her own, O’Callaghan says it is important to give that space. He suggests telling the child, “I’ll give you time to figure this out if you choose, but if it happens again, I’m going to get involved.””

If a parent does get involved, O’Callaghan suggests the next step be contacting the school and applying pressure until an adequate solution is in place.

“The school may have to bring in an expert on bullying and school safety and may have to be pressured to do so,” he says. In the unfortunate event that help from the school does not rectify the situation, the third step would be a non–blaming conversation with the aggressor’s parents. If all else fails, O’Callaghan suggests reporting the incident to the police.

In the end, parents should keep in mind that professional intervention may not always be the best answer.

“The bully will have little interest in listening to a lecture from a professional,” O’Callaghan says. “The victim primarily needs the bullying to stop. Neither child needs a professional therapist. They need a professional bully–stopper.”

How does a parent become a “professional bully–stopper?”

O’Callaghan offers these tips:

Pay close attention to the interactions of children in your care.

Develop a close relationship with all children in your care so that they will be honest with you.

Ask direct questions of children regarding their experience of safety in all settings.

Intervene forcefully in incidents of child–child conflict either observed or reported. This intervention involves a brief or extended investigation, an adult judgment of guilt or innocence and an assignment of punishment to the offender.

Most important, every incident of bullying should be mediated principally through the parents of the children involved, not other authorities like teachers, social service agencies, therapists or police. The parents are those most responsible for the child’s behavior and it is of primary importance that they accept responsibility for their children and be capable of parenting with a balanced measure of both love and discipline.

As an additional alternative, look for a program to empower your children to stand up for themselves and present an attitude of confidence when confronted. A professional martial arts or specialized self–defense/bully proof program can be just the answer to “stopping the bullies!”

]]>https://bullyingpreventionworld.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/end-school-bullying-part-2/feed/0usamartialartsPut an End to School Bullyinghttps://bullyingpreventionworld.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/put-an-end-to-school-bullying/
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Put an End to School Yard Bullies –
Part ONE

Reading, writing, arithmetic, name calling, teasing and pushing. They all have something in common.

You might be surprised to know they all are taught in school. Perhaps only three are actually part of the curriculum, but the rest are just as prevalent. Even if a child is not the victim of harassment, chances are he has witnessed students under attack.

For some parents, the topic of bullying seems irrelevant. After all, the sweetly dressed 5–year-old at the bus stop can’t possibly be a threat. But, according to Lori Linden, an elementary school guidance counselor in Millcreek, Pa., bullying can start at any age. “As early as kindergarten, [there is] pushing in line and making demands to other children,” Linden says.

How Bullying Starts
Teachers and parents need to identify children who bully. Classroom and household sanity depends on it. While most parents concentrate on whether their child is being bullied, they should not ignore the possibility that the bully might belong to them.

“The bully usually exhibits disrespectful behavior, in general, to peers, teachers and others,” says Brien O’Callaghan, a clinical psychologist and marriage and family counselor, in Bethel, Conn. “The disrespect may be obvious or subtle. There is usually an arrogant, know–it–all, sarcastic attitude. There are also usually other signs like academic underachievement, other misbehaviors like stealing and a pattern of making excuses for misbehavior and blaming others.”

While these signs indicate an underlying character issue, O’Callaghan adds that nothing is certain. “It is important to note that it is also possible that the bully will keep a low profile and not be easily identified,” he says.

How to Tell
Most parents do not witness their child being bullied. They believe, in good faith, that a teacher or adult that cares for their child will notify them of any harassment. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen.

How, then, can parents know when their child is being bullied? O’Callaghan warns that uncovering the victim is not always easy. He points out the child may feel embarrassed, threatened or may simply believe that her claims will fall on deaf ears.

Featured Child Safety and Bullying Specialist on the widely acclaimed KidzNPower program

CNBC Child Safety
The following is an excerpt from Dave Kovar’s blog. Dave Kovar is a highly respected child safety specialist featured on the widely acclaimed KidzNPower program as well as numerous other publications and broadcasts. He has taught thousands of men, women and children how to protect themselves peacefully and successfully manage bullying.

Who is Mighty?
A mighty person is one who has control of their emotions and can make friends of their enemies.

o Would you like to have more friends?
o Would you like to have more respect?
o Do you want to be mighty?
o You have the power of choice!

The Power of Choice Quite possibly your greatest power lies in your ability to remember that even a difficult situation presents you with a number of choices. Each day we make several choices with regard to our eating, personal style, leisure, and entertainment. However, many forget to use their most powerful application of choice which is the power to choose their response to any given set of circumstances. In other words, if you don’t like the way things are going, change how you deal with your circumstances. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, assuming that the notion of random choice will apply itself, bringing different results at some point. Remember, every choice you make affects the direction your life takes. Choose wisely.

ABOUT DAVE KOVAR
Mr. Kovar has been teaching Martial Arts professionally since 1978. Dave is a multi-style Black Belt who has been committed to ever-improving his Martial Arts skills. He updates this blog to provide tips and insights to martial arts instructors around the country. To learn more, click here.

It’s not very useful to tell a child to avoid a bully if you can’t tell the child how to do so. Children need to understand there is a very specific course of action to be taken in dealing with bullies and dangerous situations.

Does your child know exactly what to do if he or she is being harassed by a bully? Do they know what to do if approached by a stranger?

These reports and articles can help you inform your child of what to do in such situations.

The objective of the “Stand 4 Change” program is to get every student in America to stand up simultaneously at 10:00 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time on May 4th, and pay a compliment to the classmate closest to them, thus making this the largest display of solidarity against bullying ever recorded. This will be a national event that this generation of students will remember for the rest of their lives, much like the students who were old enough to remember “Hands Across America” in 1986.

Imagine as millions of students and teachers across North America “Stand 4 Change” to demonstrate their commitment to putting an end to bullying. By participating in this event, that image will become a reality as we all stop, stand and let the world know that we will no longer tolerate bullying in our schools and communities. Your participation in this continent-wide community action will show people across the globe that it is not only okay to stand up to bullying, it is the right thing to do. Together, we can improve the lives of our young people, and help save lives in the process.

To be part of the program is extremely easy for schools and individual students. All that is required is for schools and students to log on to www.stand4change.org and register. There is absolutely no cost and the only obligation is to stand up at the designated time and extend a compliment. The estimated time to complete the task should be no more than ten minutes. It is our sincere hope that all Utah schools and students will get involved.

A song has been written (as was done for “We are the World” in 1985) for future distribution.

Recording artists are currently being signed for the project:

Artists currently on board:

Jonas Brothers

Akon

Cody Simpson

More to be announced

Click to view slideshow.
]]>https://bullyingpreventionworld.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/press-release-stand4change-on-bullying/feed/0usamartialartsStand4Change Stand Against BullyingCody Simpson Video Stands Against Bullyinghttps://bullyingpreventionworld.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/cody-simpson-stands-against-bullying/
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Celebrity Cody Simpson shares his experiences on how to defeat labels others give you, his struggles with feeling bullied or left out.

Stand with Cody Simpson, the Jonas Brothers and millions of others who are taking a stand against bullying.

On May 4, 2012 at 12:00 p.m. EST, that image will become a reality as we all stop, stand and let the world know that we will no longer tolerate bullying in our schools and our communities.

Your participation in this continent-wide community action will show people across the globe that it is not only okay to stand up to bullying, it is the right thing to do. Together, we can improve the lives of millions of young people, and help to save﻿ lives in the process.

STAND 4 CHANGE WILL BE AN “EPIC” DAY.
Enough﻿ is enough. Now is the time to stand up against bullying.

Join us on Stand 4 Change Day and be a part of this historic rallying point for the anti-bullying movement.Imagine millions of students and teachers across North America “Stand 4 Change” to demonstrate their commitment to putting an end to bullying.

Cody Simpson Stands 4 Change

Celebrities such as Cody Simpson and the Jonas Brothers have joined Stand4Change.org to take a stand against bullying.